Whale Oil

Whale-oil varies in color from a bright honey yellow to a dark brown, according to the condition of the blubber from which it has been extracted. At best it has a rank fishy odour, and the darker the color the more disagreeable the smell. With lowering of the temperature, Stearin , accompanied with a small proportion of spermaceti, separates from the oil, and a little under the freezing point nearly the whole of these constituents may be crystallized out. When separated and pressed, this deposit is known as whale Tallow , and the oil from which it is removed is distinguished as pressed whale-oil; this, owing to its limpidity, is sometimes passed as sperm-oil.

The first principal use of whale oil was as an illuminant in Lamps and as candle wax. Whale-oil later came to be used in oiling Wool s for combing and other uses. It was the first of all oils — animal or mineral — to achieve commercial viability.

REFERENCES

Information About

Whale Oil